Vub Upgrades - Offline to Online

Understanding Vub Quality Tiers
Before You Start
Step One: Draft and Standard Vubs in the Offline Edit
Step Two: Conform & Create Online Resolution Media
Step Three (Optional): Add Training Data
Step Four: Upgrade Your Vub
Final Notes

This guide walks you through the process of upgrading a Draft or Standard vub used in an offline edit to a Professional or Theatrical vub for your online workflow and final delivery.

Understanding Vub Quality Tiers

DeepEditor offers four vub quality tiers, each designed to serve different stages and delivery specifications of a post-production workflow:

• Draft – Ideal for proving out ideas during the offline edit, similar to how temporary VFX are used. HD resolution. Please note a watermark is applied to draft vubs. 
  • h264, .mp4, low bit rate (4mb/s) 

• Standard – Suitable for internal reviews, client approvals, or screeners; still at offline proxy. HD resolution. Watermarks are not applied to standard vubs. 
  • ProRes 422 Proxy / 422 LT 
  • DNxHR LB / SQ

• Professional – Built for online workflows, supporting up to 12-bit color and 4K resolution. 
  • ProRes 422 / 422 HQ / 4444 / 4444 XQ
  • DNxHR HQ / HQX / 444

• Theatrical – The highest quality tier, offering up to 16-bit .exr ACES color workflows, 8K resolution, and a VFX turnover package.
  • .exr: ZIP / PIZ

These tiers are designed to be flexible. You don’t need to progress through all four in a single workflow, choose the ones that best suit your project’s needs.

For any post-production workflow that cuts with offline proxies and conforms to online at picture lock, it’s recommended to begin with Draft and Standard vubs during the offline edit to explore creative ideas and refine performance (much like using temporary VFX). Once picture lock is achieved, you can generate Professional or Theatrical quality vubs that are ready for online workflows and final delivery. 

Before You Start

Make sure you have the following in place:

• A working understanding of DeepEditor and the visual dubbing process.
• A Draft or Standard vub already created and reviewed in your offline edit.
• Familiarity with the difference between offline and online workflows.
• Access to raw media for online conform.
• A Professional or Theatrical token available for use in DeepEditor.

Step One: Draft and Standard Vubs in the Offline Edit

Draft and Standard vubs are used in offline edit workflows to explore and prove the creative intent of the visual dub. You’ll have:

• Uploaded proxy resolution source to DeepEditor.
• Generated a Draft or Standard vub to review in the timeline.
• The in/out cut from your rushes that was used to create your source is laid on a video track under your vub media. This ensures when the .aaf file is linking to the raw camera media in the next steps, the conform op will be able to pull the online resolution media that can be used to create the source. 

Once you and the production team are happy with the result and want to carry the vub through to final delivery, it’s time to move into the online edit.

Step Two: Conform & Create Online Resolution Media

With picture lock confirmed, you’ll move into the online edit and begin conforming with original camera files.

• You’re likely now in DaVinci Resolve or a similar finishing platform.
• Conform your sequence and relink to original raw camera files.
• Export a new version of your source media at online specifications:
  • Full resolution (e.g., UHD, 4K or 8k)
  • Correct frame rate
  • Appropriate colour space (e.g., Rec. 709, Rec. 2020 or ACES 2065-1)
  • Video codec or image file format: 
    • DNxHR HQ / HQX / 444
    • ProRes 422 / 422 HQ / 4444 / 4444 XQ
    • .exr ZIP / PIZ
• Upload your online source media into DeepEditor

Step Three (Optional): Add Training Data

If you did not upload any training data for your previous vubs, you may wish to upload training data when upgrading your vub, in order to ensure that the final vub result is the best it can be.

If you already uploaded training data, you can proceed straight to upgrading your vub.

Step Four: Upgrade Your Vub

1. Go to the Vub page and click on your Vub.
2. In the side panel, click on Create Upgraded Version.
3. Select the vub quality to which you'd like to upgrade (make sure you have a token for that quality) and rename your vub.
4. Review the media you wish to use for the upgraded vub (this could be the original media you uploaded for your Draft or Standard vub, if it was already a high quality media file, or a higher quality source media you uploaded for the upgrade).
5. Optional: Select any training data you wish to use.
6. Confirm all details and click Create.

Final Notes

Once your Professional or Theatrical vub is generated you can download your full-quality file matching the spec of your online source. 

Visual Dubs and Grade Workflows

If scheduling and the workflow allows, it is recommended to remove the grade from source media before uploading it to DeepEditor. This allows for the vub to have grades applied after it has been signed off and will ensure it can be archived for future grade/mastering.  

Tracking Training Data Through to Conform

If Training Data was used to generate a vub during the offline edit, it’s essential to reference that Training Data in the picture-locked .aaf and then use it in the vub upgrade. This ensures that during the conform stage, the online editor or conform operator receives the corresponding high-resolution Training Data alongside the final source file and they select it when creating the upgraded vub.

This is important because if the conform process and vub upgrade do not include the original Training Data, the online render may not match the offline preview, resulting in a drop in visual fidelity or discrepancies in the vub.

By flagging Training Data at picture lock, you ensure continuity between offline and online and preserve the quality of the final vub.